Best Friends? Or More? [EDITING]

BONUS CHAPTER | i |

Zach's POV

I stood there frozen even after Ellie walked out of my room. What did she mean by that? Gabriel had done all that for me? His mother....passed away?

Why didn't I know any of this? He didn't even want to tell me?

I slumped down onto their floor when my knees gave away. There was no strength left after what I heard. I was such a horrible person to just throw away years of friendship we shared. I couldn't even face Gabriel after this.

Maddison. How could I be so dense to not notice things? I should have known better than anyone that Gabriel was the kind of person who would think about others first before really thinking about himself.

A tear fell down from my eye when I realized I fucked up the only friendship I had treasured the most. I let him go through so much alone when I should have been there with him. I really hurt him didn't I?

I picked up my phone and dialled Maddison's number, waiting for her to pick up. I wanted to hear what she had to say, why she did what she did.

"Hello?" She answered.

"I need to see you. Right now." I demanded, rage flowing inside me, as I took my coat and walked outside.

She sighed, like she was expecting this. "Alright. Meet me at the intersection of the park." She said before cutting the call.

Tears blinded my vision as the guilt ate me from inside. I hated myself right now.

Maddison was leaning against a pole when I arrived at the intersection. Her face was expressionless, her body looked defeated. Did she already know what I was going to talk to her? Looked like that to me.

"Is it true?" I directly asked when I reached her. I didn't want to beat around the bush for this talk.

She nodded, like she knew what I was talking about. "Yes it is. It was high time you knew about it. Elliana really did have the patience to not tell you sooner." She smiled.

"Why?" I simply asked, rage and guilt filling my body. My fists were clenched tightly, in fear that I might forget about my morals and hit a girl.

"I don't really want to hurt you. After all I was starting to really like you."

"W-What do you mean?"

She paused for taking a deep breath. "I loved Gabriel. He was the one I was after but he didn't even look my way. He was always with you, always after you. It even made me think he was gay."

I froze. What?

"I envied your friendship because he really treasured it. It always made me think that even if I did get him to see me, he would give more time to you than me and that made me jealous and made me want to sabotage what you both had. Even though he decided to confide in me the things he couldn't do with you, he always told me how he didn't want to worry you. It was always you. And I hated it."

She paused as she breathed heavily, her tears falling down silently yet her eyes filled with rage and regret.

"Then I heard you liked me so I thought why not use this opportunity. If I managed to tear you both apart, I could at least get him for myself through you. But he heard me that day and it ruined everything. I didn't mean to say those things but I was young and naive and I wanted to act popular infront of my clique and because of that I always felt guilt till this date. I managed to get you both apart but I was not happy after what happened even though it was what I wanted."

Maddison wiped her eyes as she sat down on the ground, her arms around her legs.

"The year you went away, Gabriel needed you the most. And I always hated myself for the fact that he had to suffer alone with no one to tell him it was going to be okay. I wanted to comfort him but he always pushed me away. I felt so so horrible. I saw him moving on everyday, even though I could always see the hurt in his eyes. So I decided to move on too."

"When I met you here, I felt the guilt gnawing inside me again but I pushed it away like I always did. I saw how Elliana had befriended both of you without even trying hard and I envied her ability to do that. You asked me out again and I don't know why but I was actually happy and along the time we were dating, I realised I was actually starting to like you. But the guilt always came back to haunt me."

She paused as she silently sniffed. I couldn't believe what she was saying was true.

"But karma really is a bitch right? Just when I thought I was going to be happy, it had to come back slapping me in the face. But I deserved it. For what I did, I really deserved it."

There was silence for a long time with only the sounds of Maddison crying and the sound of the cold November air breezing past us.

I realised a lot of things then. Love really fucked us all this time.

"I understand why you did it Maddison." I finally said, breaking the silence.

"Love is something you shouldn't have played with. Gabriel's love for me, his best friend, made him sacrifice a lot of things. My love for you, made me blind to the things I should have seen clearly and your love for him made you lose your chance at finding happiness with the one you wanted." I said, sniffing and breathing in the cold air.

"I won't forgive you for what you did because I hate myself for even believing you. I hate myself for not treasuring our friendship like Gabriel did because if I did, I wouldn't have let love take over me like that. I would have been there for him at least."

I didn't know what more to say. We were both filled with guilt, two teenagers who had taken foolish decisions only to regret in the end. Of course, there would be nothing left to say.

"I'm sorry. For loving you when you craved the love of another. I guess you can just go and never come into our lives again? Please do that."

With that, I left a sobbing Maddison behind and walked back towards my house. I have to talk with Gabriel. Ask for his forgiveness even if it meant I had to beg down on my knees. I wanted to make you for all the time I hated him unreasonably.

Then I saw them. Ellie and Gabriel hugging the life out of each other and it made me stop in my tracks. She had a happy smile, devoid of all the pain and hurt she had earlier donned on her face. It made my heart feel lighter.

Then I thought about all the times I saw that look on her face. She used to have that really happy look when she used to be with me. When she was in love with me. I remember some times when she sported the look of pain and hurt too but always chose to ignore it because I didn't want to believe what I had assumed all along.

But Gabriel came along and her face turned more brightier, more happier. More than when she was with me. And seeing them together now, I couldn't have thought of a more better person to keep Ellie happy. He was perfect for her.

Maybe he was staying after all, huh?